The most incredible Vegan Mocha Ice Cream inspired by the popular Starbucks Ice Cream . Dairy-free, vegan, oil-free ice cream that combines chocolate and espresso. Super creamy and made with cashews. You will be blown away by this heavenly bowl.
My favorite combo ever is chocolate and espresso/coffee. I used to be obsessed with the Starbucks ice cream, but now I’m obsessed with this one! Vegan Mocha Ice Cream (Starbucks Copycat)
This one is the best ice cream I’ve EVER had, non-vegan included. My hubby exclaimed it was “better than Starbucks” and definitely, by far, the best ice cream recipe I’ve made to date. I will most likely stick with this recipe as my go-to base from now on. Seriously, better than any ice cream I’ve made using coconut cream.
This tastes identical to dairy ice cream. I found the perfect balance of ingredients. It is just too addicting.
MORE VEGAN ICE CREAM RECIPES
- Vegan Vanilla Birthday Cake Ice Cream
- Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
- 4 Ingredient Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream
- Dark Chocolate Almond Ice Cream
- Vegan Java Crunch Ice Cream
- Raspberry Sorbet
- Vegan Vanilla Cheesecake Ice Cream
- Vegan Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Vegan Mocha Ice cream (Starbucks copycat)
Ingredients
- 1 heaping cup (150g) whole raw cashews
- 1 1/2 cups canned "lite" coconut milk (Highly recommend the Thai Kitchen or Taste or Thai brands. Do NOT use the Polar brand, it is nothing but fillers and will not work.)
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons organic coconut palm sugar gives a richer flavor than regular sugar
- 2 tablespoons raw agave helps with the texture by preventing ice crystals
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons fine ground instant espresso adjust to your preference depending on how strong you want it, or omit for a chocolate flavor
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a power blender, such as a Vitamix, and blend for a couple of minutes on the highest setting until completely creamy and smooth. If you do not have a power blender, soak the cashews for 5-6 hours (the longer you soak, the creamier your ice cream) first in a bowl covered with room temperature water. Drain and rinse them and pat them dry. Add to your blender with the remaining ingredients.
- After you have gotten it completely smooth, taste and add any more espresso if desired.
- Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and churn until firm and a soft serve consistency forms. Place in the freezer in an airtight container for a couple of hours to harden before eating. If it completely freezes overnight, just remove it a few minutes before serving.
If you make this recipe, please do not re-post it in full on your site, please link to me instead giving proper credit. I work very hard to create my recipes and share them for free, so please be respectful and link properly. If you are inspired by this recipe, again, please give proper credit and do not simply post it on your site.
Hi,
I can’t wait to try this – can you recommend an ice cream maker? Looking for performance & convenience – considering Whynter ICM-15LS Automatic Ice Cream Maker 1.6 Quart Capacity Stainless Steel, with Built-in Compressor per amazon’s recommendation, but I am curious about what you use…
Thanks!
Beth
Hi this is the one I’ve used for years! https://thevegan8.com/product/ice-cream-maker/
Thank you!
This was delicious! Can you just leave the cocoa powder out if you want to make coffee ice cream?
Hi Jen, I really don’t think that would be strong enough and the cashew flavor might be a bit too strong. I would suggest making my butterscotch ice cream instead that doesn’t rely on cocoa powder at all. It is a coffee flavor as well and for a more potent coffee flavor, I’d double or triple the espresso. https://thevegan8.com/vegan-butterscotch-ice-cream/
Yes, so this is awesome ice cream. I can’t get over how easily it scoops – sometimes ice creams get all icy, but this doesn’t! I do leave it out on the counter for about a half hour to get it to where it’s easy to scoop.
I remember growing up my dad would give us ice cream on our waffles for breakfast, so what I’m thinking is that this needs to be paired with the double chocolate pancakes from your book. I think I’ll do this a few hours before work sometime so I can totally crash during a zoom meeting. Can’t wait!
hahaha so funny Laura! Yes, this is my favorite ice cream ever! Mine never needs but a couple of minutes though straight from the freezer. Perhaps yours just gets much more cold or the container you are using is different. Regardless, glad to hear how much you love it!
I am drooling. Love your site. How much do your ice cream recipes make?
Cups? Servings?
Thank you Deb! It will depend on the recipe, I’ve updated the recipe card, this makes about 3 cups!
Holy Hannah this is the best ice cream ever (dairy or non-dairy). I don’t have a high speed blender so I strained the coconut/cashew mix in a nut milk bag before adding the other ingredients and the texture was AMAZING! I also used instant coffee instead of espresso, for a more subtle coffee taste. I’ll be online stalking your recipes from now on.
Really glad to hear that, thank you Cathy!
One word: WOW!!!
Have made it 3 times now, with tiny variations (adding some cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg, or some chili flakes) absolutely delish every time. Thank you soo much for this recipe!
SO amazing to hear that Marlene, thank you!
This is one of the best chocolate ice cream recipes ever! It was a hit with the whole family (vegan and non-vegan alike)! I whipped it really well in the Vitamix and froze it in a loaf pan and it worked fine. Highly recommend this one….it’s a keeper! Thanks for posting delicious and easy recipes that taste like heaven!
Thank you so much Jen, so happy everybody loved it!!
Do you have to use lite coconut milk or will regular coconut milk work as well?
Yes, regular should be fine, it will make it even more creamy! I use lite so that I don’t taste the coconut, but if you are preferred to maybe taste it, I think it should work! Let me know after you try it!
Hi there! this looks awesome . I’m allergic to coconut. any suggestions on what to replace this with? Thanks! 🙂
Hi Adriana, the coconut milk really makes a difference in the texture and creaminess, but you could try another high fat milk like cashew milk or macadamia milk or oat milk maybe? I’d maybe throw in a 1/4 cup cashews too to blend up so it’s creamy enough.
Hi! What can I substitute for cashews?
Nothing, that’s the entire base of the ice cream and what makes it rich and creamy. It cannot be subbed. Here is my other popular chocolate ice cream that doesn’t use cashews. https://thevegan8.com/4-ingredient-vegan-chocolate-ice-cream/
If I stop adding the espresso powder, would it make me a chocolate ice cream?
Yes. There is also this chocolate ice cream as well! https://thevegan8.com/4-ingredient-vegan-chocolate-ice-cream/
This is just what I needed! I didn’t have espresso powder, so I brewed some **super** strong coffee and soaked my cashews in that for about 5 hrs. Also switched up the sugar to be 1/4 cup raw cane and 1/4 cup maple syrup (to replace coconut sugar and agave). Super delicious, would definitely make again!!!
SO happy you loved this ice cream Les! Thank you for taking the time to make it and leave such a wonderful review!
I’m making this for the second time, it’s AMAZING. I was vegan for many years, but autoimmune disease and related gastritis has caused me to have to go back to some things, like bone broth. However, I am dairy, soy, and gluten free and this “ice cream” is the real deal. I was looking for a lower waste way to enjoy dessert and I’ve found it! It makes 2 pints for me. I soaked my cashews overnight for a smoother finish. And I add an extra 2 teaspoons of instant coffee and about 1.5 cups of dark chocolate, chopped. HEAVEN. Thank you SO much for this recipe. It’s an awesome contender to my fave DF Ben and Jerry’s Coffee Caramel. 🙂
This sounds delicious and I love Mocha. I am not a vegan but have food allergies. I am disappointed I cannot try this as cashews are the only nut that makes me ill. Would there be any replacement?
Hi Henrietta! For this recipe, no, cashews are crucial to the result. However, I have this other chocolate ice cream recipe that uses no cashews and it’s my most popular ice cream recipe!
https://thevegan8.com/2015/07/02/4-ingredient-vegan-chocolate-ice-cream/
Oops forgot to rate it 😊
This stuff is incredible! This combo of lite coconut milk and cashews made for the perfect texture, much better IMO than the ones I’ve made with full fat coconut milk. I just added one extra Tablespoon of agave because I thought my espresso powder made it a little bitter. Can’t wait to serve this along side my husband’s birthday cake tonight – thank you for the perfect recipe!
Yay! Thank you for the awesome review! It’s my favorite ice cream ever and I agree, so much better than full coconut milk versions!
Just wondering if this can be made without an ice cream maker? Any recommendations?
Hi Jennifer! Without an ice cream maker, it will be rather icy. I would recommend this recipe instead. I created it to not need one and you can just add espresso powder to it!
https://thevegan8.com/2015/07/02/4-ingredient-vegan-chocolate-ice-cream/
This is really good thank you!!! The only ingredients I changed were the brown sugar & 1 tsp of coffee only. Cant wait for it to get a bite tom after freezing ut. ❤️❤️❤️
Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I had just shy of a cup of cashews and it turned out well. A tip from another recipe I’ve made suggested you can quicken the soaking process by boiling the cashews for an hour and the texture will be the same. So I boiled them in espresso and then blended.
This ice cream was soo good I even added some chocolate chunks.
So glad you enjoyed it Shanese, thank you!
This recipe is AMAZING. Problem is, I couldn’t get it to freeze in my ice cream maker (Cuisinart), for some reason. First time, I thought it was because my ingredients were room temperature, so I chilled for another 24 hours and tried it again – churned for over 30 minutes and it never froze. Each time, I’m licking out the bowl and thinking, this stuff is good I could DRINK IT. So, after a failed second attempt at making ice cream, that’s what I did. I DRANK THE WHOLE DARN RECIPE!!! One cup cold, the second cup heated in the microwave (and added a little almond milk to thin it out). OOOOH MAMA it was good. I don’t know if you’ve ever had Max Brenner’s drinking hot chocolates that are this thick, rich concoction of chocolate, sugar and cream, but this stuff was JUST as good IF NOT BETTER. NOW. If I could just get it to freeze, I would like to try it as ice cream, too – but if not, it certainly didn’t get wasted!
I’m so very happy you loved it so much Caryn and you totally made me laugh that you drank it, hahahaha! I’ll definitely need to try it as a drink, yummy!! As far as freezing, that is totally weird. I’ve never heard that problem, lol. Was your ice cream bowl frozen?? It has to be frozen in order to make the ice cream base turn into ice cream, so that is really the only reason it wouldn’t work. I make it and it usually is only 20 minutes to reach the soft serve consistency!
I froze the bowl both times, so I don’t know what went wrong. I haven’t used my ice maker in YEARS (like literally TEN YEARS) so I don’t know if they could possibly go bad??? I did have it in my garage freezer both times, which has a problem keeping cold when the outside temps are really, really cold, but we have been having 50-60 degree temps here in Maryland the last week or so (and everything else in the freezer is currently frozen solid), so I don’t think that is the reason, but just to be sure, the bowl is in my kitchen freezer at the moment and we will see if that works – of course I’ll have to make another recipe to try it out, since I drank the other! Even my husband, who typically is suspicious about all things vegan (and coconut) said it was delicious. Thank you so much for the excellent recipe, I just now subscribed to your site which I found when looking for vegan ice cream recipes.
Oh wow, 10 years, that could possibly be it for sure! When you shake the ice cream bowl, do you hear any liquid moving around? That will tell you that it’s not freezing properly if you do hear liquid. So glad your hubby loved it too! This is also my hubby’s favorite ice cream and he hates coconut! But since it’s lite, the coconut flavor doesn’t stand out, so he has no clue it’s in there, ha!
So I just took the bowl out of the freezer and shook it, I did not feel/hear any liquid now like I did after washing it out, so I think that’s ok. However, I just read something about pouring in the liquid AFTER starting the machine, which I had not done either time – I poured it in the bowl first, then put the turning arm and cover on. Will try that the next time and see if that was the problem. Of course I won’t really know if it’s changing the freezer, or the order of operations at that point, but whatever works!
Finally figured out where to rate this recipe. I would give it hundreds of stars but looks like Im limited to just 5, Absolutely delicious!!!
Aww, thank you so much Linda for coming back and doing that! I really appreciate it!
OMG!!! WOW!!! It almost didn’t make it to the freezer! My husband and I tested it when the ice-cream maker was done. We were prepared sit down and eat it all!!! We restrained ourselves and will enjoy for dessert a little later. I can’t believe my husband’s reaction. He is not plant strong/vegan but he told me I had to comment and give this recipe several gold stars. I think it is definitely more than a favorite! WOW!!!
Omg Linda, you just made my day with this feedback! I am SO happy to hear how much your non-vegan husband raved about it too! That thrills me! Thank you so much for the amazing feedback and if you could, please star rate it in another comment, those ratings really help me out to rank higher, so more people find this awesome recipe, haha! Thank you Linda!
Hi, Thanks for this recipe. I am alergic to dairy and the store bought Vegan Ice cream is so expensive! I have two questions about this recipe. I have a good food processor so can I use that in place of the blender? Also, I would like to convert this to Moca Almond Fudge so I was going to churn the base to soft serve and then stir in almonds and swirl in the choc. syrup before freezing. That was my guess on how to do it. Any tips on incorporating the choc. and nuts?
Hi Frank! A food processor is not going to get the cashews creamy enough I’m afraid. You will need to soak the cashews for 8-12 hours minimum first, then drain them and rinse them well. Pat them dry and then you can add everything to the processor and processor for several minutes, scraping the sides, and process until completely smooth. That should work. That is the only way to truly get cashews smooth in a food processor…do not do a short soak for this, it doesn’t work. I make my homemade cashew cream cheese this way and I do it by soaking the cashews for 12 hours.
For adding the chocolate and nuts, once your ice cream reaches the soft serve stage, just drop them in there while it’s churning and let them incorporate for 10 or so seconds just until it’s mixed in and then freeze! Hope that helps!
Thank you so much for the advice. I might just buy a good blender as my Wife likes smooties anyway. Any recommendations? But if not, for the cashews, I bought MYLK grade cashews for this reciepe as they claim to be ultra creamy. I guess they are the ones they use to make Cashew milk from. Do you know if the long soak would effect those? Sorry for all the questions but I am really new to this and it is so nice having a resource like yours. I am a passionate disabled home chef that prefers making everything from scratch. Are there better cashews to use than others? Last question, About how much does this reciepe make? I am useing a kithchenaid ice cream churning attachment for my Stand mixer and am wondering if I need to work in small batches. It will churn up to 2 quarts (according to the instructions) but I worry about overload. Again thanks for your advice.
Hi Frank, I apologize for the delay…I have been gone all day from my computer. I use a Vitamix for my ice creams and sauces, etc. because that requires no soaking of nuts and it get anything and everything 100% smooth. I love it. The only thing I don’t make in my Vitamix is nut butters. I am not familiar with that brand of cashews, so I’m afraid I don’t know how they work, but if you don’t have a strong blender, I am still not sure they would get 100% smooth without soaking them, just to be safe. I don’t want you to skip soaking them and waste your ingredients if the ice cream turns out gritty. Don’t apologize for the questions, I am here to help! As far as cashews in general, I use raw cashews from any brands and any store and they are all the exact same, I’ve never noticed any difference. Sounds like 2 quarts will be just fine for your churning as this yields about 3 cups of ice cream. I hope that helps! 🙂
Ok, so I finally decided to try your Vegan Ice Cream and why oh why did I wait sooooo LONG… this Mocha Ice Cream is so delicious and easy to make! The creamiest and most decadent E.V.E.R….. blows away any dairy version and I didn’t feel yucky after eating a huge bowl! I even licked the paddle attachment from my ice cream maker…. lol
Thank you for a great recipe! Healthy ingredients and super yummy!
Oh, and if you haven’t yet, try the 4 Ingredient Chocolate Sweet Potato one, that one is my most popular and is SO easy and will blow you away too, I’m sure, haha!
Brandi! I am so excited about trying so many of your recipes! I just printed out the Cumin Lime Pea Soup recipe too…. so many I can’t wait and I love how easy your recipes are! I am new to vegan cooking and was kinda intimidated until I tryed some of your recipes…. I have confidence now in the kitchen… lol
You are so sweet Brenda, I’m so happy to hear how much my website is helping you! That’s why I do this! And mmmm, yummy, that’s an old soup recipe but a delicious and super easy one! Can’t wait to hear what you think of it!
Ok, so I finally decided to make this Vegan Ice Cream and why oh why did I wait sooooo long! This is the creamiest, most decadent Mocha Ice Cream I have E.V.E.R. had in my life….. better than dairy version!!!!
Thank you for creating such a great recipe, now I am super excited about making your other ice cream recipes!
Healthy ingredients and oh so yummy!!!!
Brenda, you really made me giggle and smile with this amazingggg feedback! You basically described perfectly how I feel about it! Chocolate and espresso are my all-time favorite combo so this one is my favorite ice cream and I’m so happy you agree with how delicious it is. Thank you for the wonderful review!
Hi this ice cream looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it! My question is, and I’m sorry to ask, but can you use regular or Greek yogurt? I can’t find non dairy yogurt anywhere and I have a ton at home that needs to be used! Sorry for asking I know this is a vegan website and I tried to to find it I just can’t seem to find it?! I can’t wait anymore to try this ice cream it looks too amazing!
Thank you!!
Kindly
Stephanie
Hi Stephanie! No need to apologize! But, there is no yogurt in this recipe 🙂 Were you thinking of another recipe?